diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a46b4ab..59d7ed9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -346,6 +346,9 @@ The code inside the action can access all variables and functions defined in the
 initializer at the beginning of the grammar. Curly braces in the action code
 must be balanced.
 
+The code inside the action can also access the string matched by the expression
+using the `text` function.
+
 The code inside the action can also access the parse position at the beginning
 of the action's expression using the `offset` function. It returns a zero-based
 character index into the input string. The code can also access the line and
diff --git a/lib/compiler/passes/generate-code.js b/lib/compiler/passes/generate-code.js
index 5b6ec38..a858570 100644
--- a/lib/compiler/passes/generate-code.js
+++ b/lib/compiler/passes/generate-code.js
@@ -404,6 +404,10 @@ module.exports = function(ast, options) {
             '        return cachedReportedPosDetails;',
             '      }',
             '      ',
+            '      function text() {',
+            '        return input.substring(reportedPos, pos);',
+            '      }',
+            '      ',
             '      function offset() {',
             '        return reportedPos;',
             '      }',
diff --git a/spec/generated-parser.spec.js b/spec/generated-parser.spec.js
index 9686446..7c38a47 100644
--- a/spec/generated-parser.spec.js
+++ b/spec/generated-parser.spec.js
@@ -171,6 +171,15 @@ describe("generated parser", function() {
         expect(parser).toParse("a", 42);
       });
 
+      it("can use the |text| function", function() {
+        var parser = PEG.buildParser([
+              '{ var result = text(); }',
+              'start = "a" { return result; }'
+            ].join("\n"), options);
+
+        expect(parser).toParse("a", "");
+      });
+
       it("can use the |offset| function to get the current parse position", function() {
         var parser = PEG.buildParser([
               '{ var result = offset(); }',
@@ -273,6 +282,15 @@ describe("generated parser", function() {
         expect(parser).toParse("a", "a");
       });
 
+      it("can use the |text| function to get the text matched by the expression", function() {
+        var parser = PEG.buildParser(
+              'start = "a" "b" "c" { return text(); }',
+              options
+            );
+
+        expect(parser).toParse("abc", "abc");
+      });
+
       it("can use the |offset| function to get the current parse position", function() {
         var parser = PEG.buildParser(
               'start = "a" ("b" { return offset(); })',
@@ -443,6 +461,15 @@ describe("generated parser", function() {
         expect(parser).toParse("a", ["a", ""]);
       });
 
+      it("can use the |text| function", function() {
+        var parser = PEG.buildParser(
+              'start = "a" &{ return text() === ""; }',
+              options
+            );
+
+        expect(parser).toParse("a", ["a", ""]);
+      });
+
       it("can use the |offset| function to get the current parse position", function() {
         var parser = PEG.buildParser(
               'start = "a" &{ return offset() === 1; }',
@@ -525,6 +552,15 @@ describe("generated parser", function() {
         expect(parser).toParse("a", ["a", ""]);
       });
 
+      it("can use the |text| function", function() {
+        var parser = PEG.buildParser(
+              'start = "a" !{ return text() !== ""; }',
+              options
+            );
+
+        expect(parser).toParse("a", ["a", ""]);
+      });
+
       it("can use the |offset| function to get the current parse position", function() {
         var parser = PEG.buildParser(
               'start = "a" !{ return offset() !== 1; }',